Knowledge and attitude towards child adoption among women in Zaria, northern Nigeria

BACKGROUND: The success of marriages has largely been premeditated on child bearing in most African society and oftentimes women are at the receiving end of childlessness with possible psychological and physical torture. OBJECTIVE: To assess the knowledge and attitude of women of reproductive age towards child adoption in Zaria, Northern Nigeria. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional descriptive study, structured closed and open ended questionnaires was administered to 200 consenting consecutive women aged 15–49years to obtain information on socio-demographic characteristics, reproductive profile, knowledge and attitude towards child adoption. Data was analysed using SPSS V17 with p value set at 0.05. RESULTS: The majority 89.4% of respondents have heard and are aware of child adoption and 77% agreed it is a good practice. The most prevalent source of information is the Mass media in 35.0% of respondents. The female gender is preferred by majority 64.2% of respondent if they will adopt. There is a strong association between numbers of living children and willingness to consider child adoption with P value < 0.05. CONCLUSION: There is a high level of knowledge and acceptability of child adoption practices in our environment. Child adoption institutions should therefore be supported to meet the need of the infertile couples.